Double the Trouble
by chibikeeper
Summary: This is one-shot portraying Twins' life before Neverland, including the tale of their escape from the clutches of the cruel nurse.


In Peter Pan's gang of Lost Boys, the most mischievous of them all were the Twins. Of course, they were always counted as one because they were identical, and were always finishing each other's sentences and the like.   
  
They were quite young, no more than eight, though it was quite hard to tell - for they could not remember their birthday. They carried the same deep brown eyes as their mother, with the scruffy unkempt brown hair of their father. Not that they knew any of that, of course, for if they could not remember their birthday, it is quite impossible that they could remember their parents.   
  
When people quite like yourself hear of the Lost Boys, they marvel at them. When they hear of Twins, it is not uncommon for them to be awed at the cleverness it must have took for two young toddlers to get away! One child must have an awful time running away - nurses are so watchful these days! But think of two! How trying it must have been to escape the grown up rules and boundaries that laced their toddler existance.   
  
Truth be told, they were aided in their escape, by the sheer neglect of their nurse. Their parents employed an elder woman as nursemaid, for the family did not have much wealth to speak of. The elder woman cared little for children, especially two little boys, such as our twins. She did not look after them as a proper nursemaid should; she often left them in their tram at the park while she went grocery shopping. Of course, this practice of abandonment was immediately halted once she realized that Twins had learned how to crawl - crawling right out of their tram and to where ever they pleased!   
  
The elder woman, upon the discovery of Twins crawling about, decided that the best place to leave them when she tended her own business would be her flat. Her flat was a dreary place, full of sad, sagging furniture, matching the sad, sagging wallpaper. The flat was a sad place altogether, water spots dotted the ceiling. She would leave them there for long periods, locking them into the sitting room. There was nothing of value in the sitting room, so she had no concerns of them breaking anything in their explorations of the tiny space.   
  
Every Lost Boy has a story unique to their person. Every Lost Boy has a reason for running away from their parents, from growing up, and from rules. Naturally, the Twins have their own reason, too.   
  
Their reason was abandonment. The elder woman showed them no love (she became ever crueler the more they learned to speak), and they hardly ever saw their parents, for they both worked long hours in a factory. They did not want to be forever in the clutches of this dreadful woman, nor did they want to grow old living in the poverty of their parents. Although they were only a month past one year, they knew what they must do.   
  
So one day, when the elder woman locked them in the sitting room while she went to do her shopping, they devised a plan. She locked the door using old stockings knotted around the doorknob and tied to the stove. She thought she had left nothing in the sitting room, but she had in fact left a pair of sewing scissors in the desk drawer. Clever little children that they were, Twins saw the opportunity, and they jumped at it. Well, as much as children who have only just learned to walk can jump. Using the rusted pair of scissors, they cut through the tight stockings, freeing them from their dreary prison!  
  
Many a fairy had watched Twins over the past few months, marvelling at Twins ingenuity in situations that they were not supposed to comprehend. The fairies clapped and cheered wildly at the cutting of the bindings, hushing suddenly when Twins queried whether the other had heard the bells.   
  
Twins would have never exited the building were it not for the whispered directions from the fairies. The whispers were so faint that each Twin thought they were using instinct to direct their way out of the maze of steps and doorways. When they reached the outside world, which they had seen too little of in the last year, due to walking, they were further directed by their invisible guides to the gates of Kensington Gardens.  
  
You might recall that Peter had lived in Kensington Gardens before travelling to Neverland. In fact, I do believe that all of the Lost Boys had stayed in Kensington Gardens for the seven days after their escapes. The fairies found it quite easy to carry the children from the Gardens, for the fairies did not follow all children who wanted to runaway. They only followed the ones they believed would actually run away, and never look back. One fairy phrased it as a "never look back" child being appropriate for the Lost Boy position.   
  
For seven days Twins slept in the Gardens. They would have surely starved were it not for their still invisible fairy friends. The fairies left them scraps of food under the bushes, in places they knew the boys had frequented.   
  
On the seventh day, the fairies found it no longer necessary to stay hidden. The fairies made sure to reappear when the boys slept, so as not to startle them so much with appearing figures - especially winged ones.   
  
One Twin awoke with quite a start, waking the other. The little boys were terrified, quite honestly. They had been scolded many times by the elder woman, with her threats of demons coming to take them in their sleep. They thought that surely they were being punished for running away. A small fairy, dainty and beautiful, calmed their feels with her kind smile and tinkling voice. Her name was Tinkerbell.   
  
I am sure you have heard of Tinkerbell, fairy companion of Peter Pan. She had the proper effect on Twins, and they grew quite friendly with the fairies in a mere five minutes! Talking was not an issue, for Twins had learned quite a lot - as I said, they were wonderfully brilliant young children.   
  
The night of the seventh day, they were taken. They were quite horrified when they found themselves rising into the air, small, magical hands tugging at their collars. They were carried (they were too small to maintain the proper way of flying to succeed in reaching Neverland) up into the night sky, weighing little as they did, the fairies were quite happy with carrying them. They had taken heavier children to the Neverland (you may know him as Tootles - he was heavy even as a toddler).   
  
When they reached Neverland, in a series of days or nights - no one is quite sure how long the journey takes - they were taken to Peter. Peter had Tinkerbell present to help him care for the Lost Boys, but Peter taught them everything.   
  
I'm sure they were all quite a sight, four little boys running through the forest, preparing to learn to fly, followed by Twins, their arms spread wide, crying out in random bird calls.   
  
Yes, I am sure they must have been quite a sight. Neverland would not be Neverland without the Lost Boys, and I do believe that the Lost Boys would not be complete without their Twins.   
  
Every Lost Boy has a story unique to his person. This story has two. 


End file.
